Back to work - Ouch !!

I’ve been working out of country for a couple of years to earn a decent tax-free income. However, with the global economic downturn last year, and the radical decline in commodity prices, The project I was on was shut down before Christmas and I’ve been without an income since. Not that I haven’t been working mind you, a farm has a never ending list of things that need doing, so I’ve been working, just not earning.

Anyway, the ouch part is that I went for a pre-employment medical today, and had to renew almost all of my travel vaccinations. I hate needles (except acupuncture) and I got royally needled this afternoon. I’m leaving for deep dark Africa again soon, and I have but a few short days to finish off all projects in progress, and treat my machines for storage conditions. It is going to be at least a couple of months before I get to use them again.

In theory, I will have internet access from the the job site and the accommodation camp. The last deep Africa job I was on supplied us with net access but blocked all the “undesirable” sites like porn, movie downloads etc. Unfortunately, they also blocked all “hobby” sites after a few months.

We’ll have to wait & see after I get there. If I can, I’ll definitely be visiting here frequently and will drop a post here to let you all know that I’m still in touch even if I’m not active.

Would you mind some idle curiosity on my part? Your references to deep, dark Africa, projects, commodity prices and getting paid in US dollars lead me to think you’re doing something pretty cool. One thing I’ve never done is to have a cool, or adventurous job.

-- "A man may conduct himself well in both adversity and good fortune, but if you want to test his character, give him power." - Abraham Lincoln

I wouldn’t call what I’m doing particularly cool or adventurous, but then again I grew up in Africa, so I’m probably quite blasé about a lot of what you might find unusual.

South Africa is a unique blend of first world and third world ranging from extremely hi-tech to rival the world’s best, to ultra basic & equivalent to storybook tribes. We have a big-city American staying with us, and she is blown away daily by our sophistication mixed with down-to-earth self-sufficiency (this is a characteristic of most South Africans as some other LJ’s can attest to). To us that is normal but to many first-worlders we are an intriguing anomaly. :-)

My new job (and my previous few) is totally unglamorous and unadventurous – I’ll be working on a construction site. It’s just the location and living conditions that might make it seem different, but when you’re working 11 hours a day for 6 days a week, those differences just fade into insignificance.